The Carnivorous Plant FAQ: What carnivorous plants live in northern Africa?

The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 11.5
- courtesy of -
The International Carnivorous Plant Society

Q: Carnivorous plants of northern Africa--little known species!

Northern Africa

A: The number of carnivorous plant species known from Africa, Madagascar, and the Seychelles is huge, so to make this page a little less overwhelming I have excluded those carnivorous plants that are found exclusively in the three countries at the southern tip of the continent: South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.

Even so, I am afraid that the carnivorous plant biodiversity of Africa is so great that my attempts to make the page more tractable are defeated! Most of Africa's carnivorous plants are in the genera Drosera, Genlisea, and Utricularia. Many of these species are very poorly known.

Smaller genera
The African inventory includes noteworthy but small additions from five other genera:

Aldrovanda vesiculosa in Botswana (and possibly Zambia and Mozambique).
Drosophyllum lusitanicum in Morocco.
Nepenthes madagascariensis and N. masoalensis from Madagascar; Nepenthes pervillei from the Seychelles.
Pinguicula lusitanica and P. vulgaris in Morocco. The Moroccan species "P. fontiqueriana" is likely P. vulgaris or P. grandiflora.
Triphyophyllum peltatum in Sierra Leone, Libera, and Cote d'Ivoire.

Without false humility I admit that I think the best treatment of the carnivorous plants of this region is in one of my own papers that I wrote for the Italian Carnivorous Plant Society (Rice 2008b); I temper my prideful admission by sheepishly noting I accidentally excluded Utricularia simulans from that treatment. Oops.

Genlisea
About half the species in this genus occur in Africa; all are endemic to the region treated on this page, except for G. hispidula which also occurs in South Africa:

G. africana (endemic): Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
G. angolensis (endemic): Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
G. barthlottii (endemic): Guinea.
G. glandulosissima (endemic): the Democratic Republic of Congo.
G. hispidula: Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; also South Africa.
G. margaretae (endemic): Madagascar, Tanzania, and Zambia.
G. pallida (endemic): Angola, and Zambia.
G. stapfii (endemic): Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
G. subglabra (endemic): the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Rwanda-Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia.
G. taylorii (endemic): Angola.

Drosera
madagascariensis

Drosera
In this part of the world, the genus Drosera is represented by a smattering of species, many of which are very poorly understood:

D. affinis (endemic): Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
D. bequaertii (endemic): Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
D. burkeana: Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe; also in South Africa.
D. dielsiana: Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe; also in South Africa.
D. elongata: Angola.
D. humbertii (endemic): Madagascar.
D. indica: Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Namibia; also in South Africa; Asia and Australia.
D. katangensis (endemic): the Democratic Republic of Congo.
D. madagascariensis: Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe; also in Swaziland and South Africa.
D. natalensis: Madagascar, Mozambique; also in South Africa.
D. pilosa (endemic): Guinea, Cameroon, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Utricularia
subulata
Utricularia
gibba
Utricularia
foliosa
Utricularia
bisquamata

Utricularia
The contribution from Utricularia is enormous, and many are endemic to this region.

U. andongensis (endemic): Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola.
U. appendiculata (endemic): Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Madagascar.
U. arenaria: Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; India.
U. australis: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Zambia; also in South Africa; Europe, mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
U. benjaminiana: Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar; also in South Africa; Latin America.
U. bisquamata: Angola, Namibia, and Madagascar; also in South Africa.
U. bracteata (endemic): Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
U. cymbantha: Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa.
U. firmula: Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa.
U. foliosa: Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; Americas.
U. foveolata: Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Madagascar; also mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
U. gibba: Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Madagascar, and Mauritius; also in South Africa; the Americas, mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.
U. inflexa: Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; mainland Asia.
U. letestui (endemic): Central African Republic.
U. livida: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa, Lesotho; Mexico.
U. macrocheilos (endemic): Guinea and Sierra Leone.
U. mannii (endemic): Cameroon, Nigeria, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
U. microcalyx (endemic): the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
U. micropetala (endemic): Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Central African Republic.
U. odontosepala (endemic): Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
U. pentadactyla (endemic): Ethiopia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Angola.
U. pobequinii (endemic): Guinea.
U. podadena (endemic): Malawi and Mozambique.
U. prehensilis: Ethiopia, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa.
U. pubescens: Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Angola; also in India and South America.
U. raynalii (endemic): Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Rwanda, and Sudan.
U. reflexa (endemic): Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Madagascar.
U. rigida (endemic): Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria.
U. scandens: Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; mainland and Southeast Asia.
U. simulans: Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Liberia, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Angola; also the Americas.
U. spiralis (endemic): Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Angola.
U. stanfieldii (endemic): Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and Nigeria.
U. stellaris: Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; mainland Asia, and Australia.
U. striatula: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola; also mainland and Southeast Asia.
U. subulata: Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and Madagascar; also in South Africa; mainland and Southeast Asia, Australia.
U. tetraloba (endemic): Guinea and Sierra Leone.
U. tortilis (endemic): Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Angola.
U. troupinii (endemic): Rwanda and Burundi.
U. welwitschii: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Madagascar; also in South Africa.

As if you could digest all this in a single reading! Bah!!!

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Page citations: Casper, J. 1966; Degreef, J.D. 1990; Exell, A.W., and Laundon, J.R. 1956; Fischer, E. et al. 2000; Rice, B.A. 2006a, 2008b; Schlauer, J. 2002; Taton, A. 1945; Taylor, P. 1989.